After ruffling feathers and getting everyone’s attention with “Draft Day,” Drake knew what he had to do. The moment required him release a ballad as a ruse.

“Draft Day” lit a spark akin to haphazardly discarding a cigarette out the car window in Cali on any summer day. Things caught fire quick as his so-called subliminals and the name-dropping set off alarms across the board. Sports rags ran off at the mouth about his bro status with Johnny Manziel. Outlets that had nothing to do with music, much less rap, were questioning whether the Canadian boy wonder had ditched Rihanna to pursue his new crush, Jennifer Lawrence.

Drizzy knew the best way to diffuse it all was simple: just sing. And sing he does on “Days In The East,” the slow-churning piece co-produced by PARTYNEXTDOOR and “40.” What it does redirect all the attention away from the people he was talking about last song and brings the eyes and ears, plus the accompanying love/hate, back to him. The song isn’t exactly new since it’s been teased online for a while and he debuted the full version weeks ago at a recent European tour stop.

Still, it’s enough to get people back to talking about how soft he is for singing instead of how the vics of his latest subliminal bars should respond. “Days” won’t stop the chatter but it will temper the talk for a minute.

Now, I’m just curious as to how he escaped a close encounter with Erykah Badu, rap men’s Medusa, without impregnating her.

Join The Discussion

Sounds much doper than the live version. Feeling this! Definitely hitting repeat. In slightly related news, Kanye is coming out with a new album and it supposedly won’t sound like Yeezus. Annnnnd once again, I’m excited

incorrect. I’m in the minority I think. While I like College Dropout, it is not my favorite album from Mr. West. I want him to make a dope album, a great album. I don’t know what it’s going to sound like…that’s the point lol

How so? Seems like OVO signature sound. A lot of their songs have similarities of some sort because that’s their style. Like No a lot of No Limit or Cash Money records sounded similar, because…the same people are making the records.

But really..other than the Paul Revere-esque reversal, what do you hear that sounds so similar to Own It? Just curious

I feel like I hardly comment on TSS any more, so the idea that I have a reputation for dissing Drake is bizarre to me.

For the record:
I think Drake is a very technically good rapper. He knows how to craft songs. He’s a very good singer (for a rapper). I think he has a better chance of longevity than all but a few of the internet cats that have come out.

That being said, I don’t really mess with most of his music. I don’t like a lot of his subject matter. His content and style are both heavily derived from Kanye and Cudi’s work and he doesn’t really ever give them credit for that or act humble in that regard. I think he has a huge ego, and not in the way that is good for a rapper to have.

He could become one of my favorite rappers someday. He has been before when we were both younger. But I’m not optimistic. So I’mma just stick to bumping the music of his that I do mess with.

People really don’t like signing Drake, which makes sense that he drops a record like this. Definitely a calculated move after Draft Day.

If you listen/watch his CRWN interview with Elliot Wilson, you’ll understand that ballad Drake ain’t going nowhere. Drake understands that rappers have a short shelf life, and while they’re rappity rapping their hippity hop, he has pretty much cemented himself in this lane. And it makes people THAT much more thirsty for actual bars.

That thirsty?! I don’t know bruh. Drake is looking pretty weak right now. You’re right about rappers having a short shelf life, which is why you diversify to things outside of the music biz. Moving from one genre to the next works for a short period, but it’s just like a sugar rush. It’s temporary. And his failure to rap definitely isn’t making people hunger for more. It’s pissing people off. The only reason people checked that joint that he made yesterday is because it was some dissing going on. That’s it. Singing R&B more than MCing hurts your core audience and as soon as the mainstream gets tired of you, you’re toast because you don’t have your core audience to fall back on. One!

Eh, I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. His “core” fans know he can rap. They know about Comeback Season, they know what he did to Common (let’s be real, despite the makeup they did, Stay Scheming is crazy), they know about Paris Martin Music, etc etc. So, when he drops music, people WILL listen. They may stop if he’s signing, depending on who they are, but they WILL give it a listen.

I agree that the mainstream will get tired of this version of Drake, but he’s shown his versatility. He’ll just carve out another niche and keep it going. Personally, I can get down with some of R&B Drake, but this is song is just wack to me. BUT, you have to give credit where credit is due. He’s talented. And smart.

On my 10th or 11th listen. Damn. This is fire right here. Love the way he wrote it. I didn’t like “Hold On” or the other song with Jhene Aiko. I listened to TML maybe a month ago. Amazing the growth from a song like Shut It Down to Days in the East. He in the zone now